Female suicide bombers carried out coordinated attacks in northern Nigeria recently, targeting a wedding, a funeral, and a hospital, resulting in the tragic deaths of at least 18 people, according to local authorities on Sunday.
The first explosion occurred during a wedding celebration in the town of Gwoza in northeastern Nigeria, as reported by Barkindo Saidu, the director-general of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency. Saidu stated that “Minutes later, another blast occurred near General Hospital,” followed by a third explosion at a funeral service where the bomber was disguised as a mourner. Among the victims were children and pregnant women. Over 30 others sustained injuries, including severe abdominal and skull injuries.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks. Borno state, where the attacks took place, has been severely impacted by the insurgency initiated in 2009 by the Boko Haram Islamic extremist group.
Boko Haram has previously employed women and girls in suicide bombings, leading to suspicions that some attackers may have been abducted by the extremists over the years, including schoolchildren.
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu condemned the attacks as “desperate acts of terror” and described them as “an isolated episode.”
The insurgency, which has spread across borders around Lake Chad, has resulted in the deaths of more than 35,000 people, displaced over 2.6 million individuals, and triggered a massive humanitarian crisis.
Boko Haram, which has a faction aligned with the Islamic State group, seeks to establish an Islamic state in Nigeria. The country, West Africa’s most populous with around 170 million people, is divided almost evenly between a predominantly Christian south and a largely Muslim north.
The resurgence of suicide bombings in Borno has raised significant concerns about the security situation in the region. Authorities responded by implementing a curfew in the affected city. Gwoza is located just a few kilometers from Chibok, where 276 schoolgirls were abducted in 2014, with nearly 100 still in captivity.
Since the Chibok abduction, at least 1,500 students across Nigeria have been kidnapped by armed groups, who view this practice as a lucrative means to finance their criminal activities and gain control over communities.
